sofTTware

I posted ealier this week that there was an interesting article in the Chicago Tribune last weekend reviewing US auto sales last year. Here is a recap of the car (not truck!) sales. Note the large decline in VW and pretty much flat Audi sales against hefty (5%) increases for BMW and MB. BMW does even better when you add the Mini totals. If I added in the truck numbers(see the URL), Audi falls even further behind.

Audi has got to get their numbers up if they ever want to make any money in the US although I don't see it in the near future with the increased competition from all sides and the lack of anything imaginative coming down the pike from Audi. This has to be the main issue their new President of the US has on his plate. Audi is not the only brand that has to be worrying though as they have company in lower end of market volume-wise!

Note: sorry about all of the periods but AW's POS forum software eliminates extra spaces in the message post entry widget.

Enjoy!!!!

---------------- Domestic -----------------
A comparison of U.S. sales of domestically
made cars in 2003 and 2002.
...Mfr............2003.............2002
-------------------------------------------

GM.............1,905,333.......2,031,156
Ford...........1,184,183.......1,184,183
Toyota...........683,754.........637,334
Honda............649,460.........686,701
Chrysler.........560,414.........665,316
Nissan...........356,331.........307,883
VW...............174,838.........195,153
Mitsu............104,016.........169,383
Subaru............90,533..........87,872
Mazda.............67,747..........42,731
BMW...............20,324..........10,490
Suzuki....................5.............177
TOTAL..........5,646,825.......6,018,379


----------------- Asian -----------------
A comparison of U.S. car sales by Asian
brands in 2003 and 2002.
...Mfr............2003.............2002
-----------------------------------------
Toyota...........858,268.........836,110
Honda............706,492.........726,006
Nissan...........419,365.........421,738
Hyundai..........298,943.........296,840
Mitsubishi.......161,523.........259,662
Subaru...........186,819.........180,020
Mazda............163,694.........158,556
Kia..............140,440.........150,370
Lexus............126,820.........149,725
Acura............113,637.........112,597
Infiniti..........86,027..........70,973
Suzuki............22,541..........21,397
Scion..............3,962...............-
Daewoo.................0..........22,467
TOTAL..........3,288,531.......3,406,461


----------------- European -----------------
A comparison of U.S. car sales by European
brands in 2003 and 2002.
...Mfr............2003.............2002
--------------------------------------------
VW...............281,541.........331,452
BMW..............200,144.........189,290
Mercedes.........186,533.........170,431
Volvo.............98,863.........106,291
Audi..............86,421..........85,726
Jaguar............54,655..........61,204
Saab..............47,914..........37,805
Mini..............36,010..........24,590
Porsche...........15,496..........21,318
TOTAL..........1,007,597.......1,028,107<ul><li><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0402070188feb08,1,7632972.story">http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0402070188feb08,1,7632972.story</a</li></ul>

JohnLZ7W

Audi had a mid-year intro of the A8 and lots of sales on hold as people wait for the C6 A6 (just 5 more days).